Most Indian Amazon sellers think they know their P&L. Then they download the Settlement Report, expand every line item, and realise Amazon has been quietly deducting eight separate things. Here's the full list of fees that don't show on the Seller Central home dashboard — and how each one eats margin.
FBA weight handling fees jump in tiers (e.g., 0 – 500 g, 500 g – 1 kg, 1 – 2 kg, etc.). A product weighing 510 g pays the next-tier rate even though it's only 10 g over.
Impact: Can add ₹10 – ₹30 per unit on borderline SKUs. ₹30 on a ₹200 product = 15 % of revenue.
Fix: Reduce packaging weight to drop a tier. SLM flags SKUs whose weight is within 50 g of a lower tier as "easy wins".
Amazon refunds the customer the full price + shipping, then charges you for return logistics. In apparel, shoes, and electronics, returns run 10 – 25 %.
Impact: A 15 % return rate on a ₹500 SKU with ₹40 return cost = ₹60 hit on every unit's effective price (₹40 × 15 % distributed). That's 12 % of revenue gone.
Fix: Track Return Rate × Return Logistics Cost per SKU. Stop running ads on high-return SKUs.
Most sellers know about the 365-day long-term storage fee. Few know about the aged-inventory surcharge that starts at 271 days. It's a separate line item in Settlement Reports.
Impact: Compounds monthly. A low-velocity SKU stuck 9 months can owe more in storage than it cost to manufacture.
Fix: Set a 90-day rule — if a SKU hasn't moved a unit in 90 days, take action (discount, bundle, liquidate). See our dead-stock guide.
When a customer returns an ad-driven sale, Amazon refunds the product price but you've already paid the ad cost. Your "ACOS" stays the same on the dashboard but cash margin doesn't.
Impact: Effective ACoS = reported ACoS / (1 − return rate). At 15 % returns, a "20 % ACoS" is really 23.5 %.
Fix: Compute net-of-returns ACoS per SKU. Lower bids on high-return SKUs.
Amazon now charges an extra fee for FBA SKUs whose inventory level is "too low" relative to projected demand. Designed to push you to keep more stock — and pay more storage. Catch-22.
Impact: A small per-unit surcharge on stockout-prone SKUs. Adds up across hundreds of SKUs.
Fix: Run Easy Ship / Self Ship for high-velocity SKUs where margin can't absorb FBA premium pricing.
FBA inbound losses, customer-not-returned-but-refunded cases, warehouse damage — Amazon owes you for these, but only if you file the claim. Most sellers don't.
Impact: Industry studies suggest 1 – 3 % of FBA revenue is recoverable through claims. Most sellers leave it on the table.
Fix: Reconcile Inventory Reconciliation Report monthly. Tools exist (Refunds Manager, Seller Investigators) — or DIY.
You collect 18 % GST from the customer but only get input GST credit on purchases where the supplier has filed GSTR-1. If suppliers are slow, your input credit lags — net GST outflow goes up.
Impact: Can be ₹5 – ₹15 per unit on small-ticket items.
Fix: Vet suppliers' GSTR-1 compliance before bulk orders. Demand timely invoicing.
Closing fee depends on the SKU's selling price slab. SKUs priced just above a slab break (e.g., ₹501 vs ₹499) pay disproportionately more.
Impact: ₹5 – ₹20 per unit difference on near-boundary SKUs.
Fix: Re-price SKUs just below the slab where competitor pricing allows.
Stack them up on a typical ₹500 SKU and the hidden fees can easily total ₹40 – ₹80 — that's 8 – 16 % of revenue you didn't see in your home dashboard.
| Fee category | Typical hit (₹500 SKU) |
|---|---|
| Weight tier jump | 10 – 30 |
| Return logistics | 15 – 50 |
| Aged storage | 5 – 25 |
| Ad refund on returns | 5 – 20 |
| Low-inventory fee | 2 – 8 |
| Reimbursement gap | 5 – 15 |
| GST mismatch | 5 – 15 |
| Closing fee slab | 5 – 20 |
Or skip the spreadsheets — run your CSV through SLM and get the same ranking in 7 seconds per SKU.
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